Did a Pei Qing like this really understand romantic love? Could it be that he and Lou Ze'an were only...
Realizing her thoughts had wandered again, Lou Yun hurriedly shook off that unrealistic fantasy. Impossible, absolutely impossible. If the young man truly did not understand, then what about that kiss she had seen the two share beneath the tree all those years ago?
Surely not... Lou Yun hesitated for a moment, doubting her own elder brother's character for the first time.
-Surely Lou Ze'an hadn't deliberately led him into it? (Conspiracy theorist Lou Yun)
At that moment, a certain crown prince lying on the ground, his fate unknown, shuddered violently.
Chapter 9
Rouniang cried for a long while before collecting herself. She rose awkwardly, saw the fine silk before her soaked with tears, and apologized in a fluster. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, I..."
Pei Qing waved his hands repeatedly, indicating that she need not take it to heart, then turned and sat down. No matter how one looked at it, he seemed to be beating a hasty retreat.
To keep herself from standing out too much, Lou Yun held her teacup before her mouth, hiding the laugh that had nearly escaped.
The look the young man sent her was so aggrieved, just like the cat she had brought back in her previous life after sending it to her father to amuse him
for a while.
A trace of guilt sprang up in her heart. She cleared her throat and went through the formalities. "Because Li An abused you, you planned this murder and killed him?"
"Yes."
A hint of amusement flashed through Lou Yun's eyes. With apparent nonchalance, she asked, "We found traces of a third person at the scene. Do you know whose they were?"
The girl had only just lowered her guard, and her momentary carelessness gave Lou Yun an opening. "In Li An's room?" she asked.
Lou Yun's hand paused. She raised an eyebrow. "Yes. How did you know? Or perhaps..." She deliberately drew out her words. "You weren't alone that night?"
Realizing what she had said, Rouniang's pupils contracted. She immediately bowed her head and fell silent.
"Rouniang?" Pei Qing spoke up to help question her.
The girl only shook her head. Her hair, neatly pinned up when she arrived, had grown disheveled from her repeated movements. She let the fallen strands conceal her eyes and refused to speak, no matter how the two questioned her.
They, too, fell silent, simply waiting for the girl below to speak.
An invisible pressure weighed on Rouniang.
At last, unable to withstand it any longer, Rouniang crawled trembling toward Pei Qing, a sob creeping into her voice as she pleaded, "Please, please, just treat it as though I did it alone."
The girl's forehead struck the floor with repeated thuds. Before Pei Qing could react, Lou Yun took the initiative and stepped between them.
Rouniang saw a pair of brocade boots embroidered with golden qilin suddenly appear before her. Realizing who stood in front of her, she hurriedly knocked her head against the ground even harder, pleading earnestly, "Your Highness, please, just treat it as this common girl acting alone. Please!"
Thud, thud, thud! The sound of her forehead striking the floor was like a chaotic drumbeat, irritating to the ear.
Lou Yun said nothing. Her expression was stern, her eyes beneath her lashes devoid of emotion, yet she quietly used the top of her foot to stop the girl from desperately battering her head against the ground.
She was not Pei Qing. She had neither the inclination nor the desire to guide others through their feelings or understand their states of mind.
She had witnessed the suffering of the world for over forty years. In the position she had occupied in her previous life, if she had to lament every person's misery, she would have spent each day doing nothing but grieving. How could she govern a country? How could she bring peace to its households?
It was not as though she had never seen anyone worse off than Rouniang. One had to fulfill the duties of one's position. Since she had taken on this case, she could not let compassion lead her to leave other murderers unchecked.
Pei Qing... She truly feared that Pei Qing would soften and entertain thoughts he should not have.
"Miss, the law is without sentiment."
Both turned toward the young man who had spoken. Surprise filled both their eyes, but Lou Yun's also held a trace of approval.
Indeed, those in power needed compassion for the people, but they could not forget the burden on their shoulders. For an official, integrity and care for the people were responsibilities; fairness and impartiality were fundamental duties.
No wonder Great Yan granted its imperial preceptors such lofty status and authority. Every imperial preceptor throughout Great Yan's history had possessed excellent character, ability, and even looks.
The ideal candidate for a minister.
Lou Yun felt an urge stirring within her. Why hadn't she had a minister so perfectly suited to her wishes in her previous life? She wanted to poach him.
With even Pei Qing saying this, Rouniang knew there was no room for negotiation. Her eyes went utterly lifeless, and with the attitude of a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, she said, "Even so, I won't say anything. Investigate it yourselves, my lords."
An uncooperative suspect really was troublesome. The two sighed helplessly in unison.
"We won't get anything out of her by questioning her now. Keep her in custody at your residence for the time being."
"All right."
Pei Qing summoned someone to take Rouniang away, leaving only the two of them in the hall.
The atmosphere grew somewhat awkward. To keep the silence from dragging on, Lou Yun said, "I'll have someone investigate what Rouniang just told us when I get back, and see if we can find out who she's protecting."
"All right."
The young man sat dazedly in his chair. Hearing Lou Yun's words, he obediently nodded his agreement.
Lou Yun had nothing more to say either. She rose to leave, only to feel a tug on her sleeve.
She turned. The young man's fingertips had gone white where they pinched her robe, his beautifully shaped fingers clutching the fabric tightly, as though terrified it would slip away.
Lou Yun's gaze traveled upward and unexpectedly met eyes filled with unease. Soft strands of hair hung down on either side of his face. His appearance could not have been more ordinary, yet those eyes steeped it thoroughly in loneliness.
Pei Qing probably had no idea that he now looked like a puppy drenched in a torrential downpour, whimpering as it ran home, wanting to leap into its owner's arms for comfort, yet lingering outside, too afraid to enter because it was dirty.
For no reason at all, Lou Yun's heart instantly softened, her expression melting in that moment.
Lou Yun probably had no idea that, when her icy expression fell away in that instant, she resembled a thousand-year-old snowy mountain thawing to reveal verdant grassland, where ten thousand flowers burst into bloom at once.
Pei Qing suddenly stared, entranced. He had clearly seen this face countless times. He even knew every change it had undergone at every stage.
Could the same face truly feel so different on different people? Pei Qing's own looks were already peerless beauties of the mortal world; those who could surpass his face could be counted on one hand.
Leaving aside how looking at himself every day ought to have made him completely immune to beauty, no matter how attractive Lou Yun was, he had spent so many years looking at Lou Ze'an's face that he should have tired of it. By rights, he should not have reacted so strongly.
Yet the pounding of his heart now was clearly anything but calm.
Strange? I shouldn't be ill, should I?
He instinctively reached toward his wrist to examine himself, only to see the person before him tilt her head, her languid expression carrying a hint of teasing as she uttered, "Hmm?"
For some reason, the imperial preceptor, who had just wanted to insist she stay and ask her for answers, suddenly lost his nerve.
He wanted to ask:
Why had she been so cold that morning?
Why had she looked so unhappy that morning?
Why, why had she been subtly keeping her distance from him all day...
The more he thought, the more aggrieved he felt. He was not someone who openly displayed his emotions. It had taken A Zi four years to get him to reveal even a little of his feelings about food or when his stomach ailment flared up.
Yet whenever he faced this person, who was three years younger than him, it was as though he had switched places with someone else. He could not control his desire for her to notice his feelings, to show her every joy, anger, sorrow, and delight in his heart.
He wanted to indulge himself, to be willful for once, whether during their last meal or now, when she deliberately gave him the cold shoulder. Consciously or otherwise, he was always testing Lou Yun's limits, wanting to see just how much she could tolerate from him.
If he did not reach the bottom, he became like a greedy beast, frantically pushing forward, restraining himself only slightly when Lou Yun drew the line.
But in the next instant, an inexplicable sour ache would well up in his heart again, swelling against his chest, clamoring without cease: Why? Why can't you spoil me a little more? Why can't you say something to coax me? Why can't you pay a little more attention to me?
Confronted for the first time in twenty-two years with such surging emotions, Pei Qing crashed on the spot.
Was... was he broken?
How could such frightening feelings have arisen in his heart? If his master knew, he would surely rebuke him, saying all his years of studying a gentleman's propriety had been wasted.
Besides, if Lou Yun knew he demanded so much of her in his heart, would she also feel frightened, despise him, and then leave him?
The mere thought that Lou Yun might look at him with disgust and dislike made Pei Qing feel unable to breathe, his eyes stinging.
And so Lou Yun watched helplessly as the young man's expression shifted straight from unease to dejection, and finally to utter despair.
Pei Qing truly could not hide his emotions. Fear all but drowned him, and the corners of his eyes slowly reddened.
Even Lou Yun, who believed no one's emotions could escape her eyes, had to admit that Pei Qing's feelings had come far too suddenly and without any rhyme or reason.
She could never have imagined that someone would frighten himself to tears over something he had merely imagined.
Yet the young man's pitiful appearance, as though he were about to be abandoned, still softened her heart.
Was he going to cry again?
As Lou Yun thought this, her hand moved beyond her control to brush the corner of his eye. "So delicate," she said helplessly.
In an instant, Pei Qing's tears began falling despite himself, one after another, each bead gleaming crystal-clear in the light.
Lou Yun recalled a supernatural tale she had read before. It featured a creature that lived in the sea, with a human torso and a fish's tail, and a bewitching singing voice. It was said that its tears were pearls.
Her hand then moved down to pinch the thin flesh of his cheek, and she said with mischievous intent, "Could our imperial preceptor be a monster in disguise? Otherwise, why do your tears fall like pearls?"
Pei Qing's eyes abruptly widened, and he almost failed to react. When he saw the amusement in the woman's eyes, he realized she was having fun at his expense, leaving him a little angry and a little aggrieved.